As children, adults told us: “What tattoo?!” When you grow up, you can at least get a prick on your forehead!” “Big Village” found four Samarans who took it and tattooed it: we find out what kind of pain - physical and mental - the crosses and anchors on the face cause, how loved ones and passers-by react to them, whether a tattoo changes a person and whether you want to erase all this beauty.
Nastya Rosso
Model
At the age of 15, I went to my tattoo artist and said that I wanted to tattoo my face. He answered with one phrase: “No, damn it, you’re too small for this.” I had to persuade him for a long time, and, as you can see now, I succeeded.
I have always been a supporter of such actions, and no one was surprised at my outburst: my friends had already gotten used to it, my relatives reacted calmly - everyone except my grandmother. She always wanted to raise me a real lady, and when she saw what happened to my face, she was silent for a long time, and then asked if I was injecting heroin. After the negative answer, however, I calmed down and after a while I got used to it. I already lived separately from my parents and I also tried not to be an eyesore for my grandmother.
For the first six months I flaunted my tattoos. I quickly got used to my reflection and wanted people to pay attention to me more often. But after a year, the constant glances in my direction began to freeze.
Grandmothers on the street periodically crossed themselves, some dropped their grandchildren off on the bus, and also shouted after me so that I wouldn’t breed. They reacted to me like I was a dinosaur.
But young people like my tattoos. I shoot nudes for famous photographers and my photographs are popular. Sometimes my tattoos are covered up because they don’t fit the concept of a photo shoot - in particular, they do this for “before” and “after” collages. But I don’t really like covering them up: face tattoos are a way to forget about a difficult past. When I cover them up, I again remember the pain and powerlessness of the days that today I would like to forget.
However, I recently covered up the tattoo myself in order to meet my boyfriend’s parents. As soon as I got on the subway, I realized that no one was looking at me and I missed it.
At the same time, I never thought about removing my tattoos because others don’t like them. For me it's cool and aesthetically pleasing, and nothing else matters. I didn't make them to wash them. But I don’t know what will happen in the future - people tend to change, and I don’t exclude the possibility that I will want to remove something from my face or body. I just try to live by logic: feel yourself, do what you want, and not what others want from you.
I often had to change jobs. For example, when I worked in an apartment sales company, ten deals out of a hundred ended unsuccessfully: employers and customers were biased towards me - they thought that because of the tattoos on my face I was incompetent or that I was simply too small for such work. I actually studied to become an actor-theater director, but I realized that it was not for me, and I consciously left my studies. In a year I'm going to apply to become an art critic, because art is what I am.
My body is proof of this. It's completely covered in tattoos. They are everywhere: from arms and legs to ribs and pubis. Everything is spontaneous: I never wait several months before a session, but immediately go and hit. Sometimes it hurts like hell, and sometimes I don’t even notice how it goes. It was the same with my face - I never made a sound during all the sessions. But the best thrill is the feeling after. Every time I look at myself in the mirror and see a new tattoo on my face, I happily swear. That's all. This is incomparable to anything.
After such tattoos, not only the appearance, but also the inner you - you find yourself in a different caste of people, going beyond what is permitted. When you have a tattoo on your face, you don’t care what kind of makeup you go out with or what sneakers you’re wearing. My motto in life is to simply look for yourself. And it doesn’t matter whether you have drawings on your body or whether you wear a leopard fur coat with striped leggings.
I believe that facial tattoos are a slap in the face to society. It turns out that those around me think more about my life than I think about them.
Pavel Malafeev
Entrepreneur, Harat's employee
At the age of 18, I got my first tattoo on my face - a small anchor. It didn't make much sense, I just liked the nautical theme. I tattooed the word Trust (translated from English as trust) above my eyebrow because I believe that without this quality no relationships in society are possible. The white rabbit is a reference to Alice in Wonderland. He is the coolest character who controls time. The rabbit often tells me, whispers in my ear, what needs to be done. By the way, the sketch came to me in a dream. And my strongest tattoo is a cross on my forehead. It shows my attitude towards religion: I respect the story about Jesus Christ, it is my favorite. From it you can glean something that is not visible on the surface.
I decided to fill my face and realized that there was nothing to lose - my neck and whole body were covered with tattoos. It all started with music: as a child I was a violinist, and then I started playing guitar, drums, opened a recording studio, and organized concerts. I looked at the downtrodden musicians and thought: “I want tattoos too!” I liked being noticed. Everyone in the music community supported me, but passers-by on the street stared and stumbled. This made me feel scared, so I tried not to ride public transport, only by taxi. Buses sucked all the energy out of me. Sometimes the grandmothers turned into girls, flirted, discussed what kind of boys they were now.
There were no difficulties finding a job. I found an informal place - Harat's Pub. There are no strict standards here, no one points a finger at you. Before that I worked at a tattoo parlor called Riverside Tattoo. There was even a “Let’s kill your face for free” campaign. Anyone has used it - from teenagers to old people. At one point I had to leave for another job on business, and when I returned, I was simply amazed: even minors were beaten to death. Schoolchildren left the salon with eyes painted on their foreheads. I told the masters: “What are you doing, really? We will have problems." But no one complained. During the entire operation of the salon, we scored exactly thirty people. We can say that we participated in the birth of a new movement in Samara.
In my tattoo parlor they tattooed others, but I noticed that I myself was missing something. The cross on the forehead filled this void, and everything fell into place. It's cool that I'm not one of those guys who dream and don't dare. I'm the one who took it and did it. In addition, such actions helped me become more self-confident and overcome modesty - I consider this quality unnecessary in our world.
Denya Kolchanov
Tattoo artist
My girlfriend forbade me to get tattoos on my face, but I dared. Secretly from her, I came to the salon and asked the master to make my dream come true. At home, of course, I was a little upset, but then I thought more about how to explain my choice to my parents. They live in other cities, and I decided to just send a photo. Mom reacted calmly: she for a long time worked as a tattoo artist - and by the way, she gave me my first tattoo at the age of 13. Dad looked at the seal of Lucifer on my temple and asked: “What is this, a drink?” I was most ashamed in front of my grandparents, but they simply remained silent.
In general, no one has caused scandals for me at home, this won’t surprise anyone on the street - every second person is downtrodden, and it’s difficult to impress clients - I work in a tattoo parlor. True, after a while I still began to regret that I had gotten a tattoo on my face and thought about removing it - I began to develop real social phobia. It’s good that my friends convinced me to leave everything as it was: they said that it was part of me, and without it I would be different.
Recently I was thinking that there is a place near my cheek where I would like to stuff my knife hand. Or a crown of thorns on the forehead. But this is still in my thoughts, my face is pitiful. In general, I began to notice that getting a new tattoo for me is like buying sneakers: you wear them carefully for a couple of days, try not to get them dirty, and then you feel comfortable and forget about them until the next passer-by starts openly yelling at you stare. When you have 57 tattoos all over your body, it's hard to hide it.
I have one cool tattoo, although not on my face. At my ex-girlfriend I had a chubby friend, and I laughed at her all the time. One day, in order to hook it even more, I got it on my leg. overweight woman in an ice cream cone, wrote her name and sent it to her. The girl didn’t appreciate the joke, but I still really like this tattoo, it reminds me of that friend and fun times.
Problems with law enforcement agencies arise constantly. Every time I travel by train I am searched by the police. They think I'm driving drugs. For them, a tattoo with a spider on their hands is something from the zone. Because of this, I am often labeled as a person who has served time. Recently I was riding the metro near Zvezda. The female police officer gave me a real interrogation and threatened to take me to the police station. I looked at photographs of criminals on the wall and said that I looked like one of them - simply because I had the same dark hair. When she got tired of looking for leads, she let her go, but didn’t explain anything - and didn’t even apologize for the inconvenience. Over time, people on the street stop bothering you: headphones in your ears - good thing. Grown-up women and men are increasingly coming up and saying: “Beautiful!” I am sure that if you are a closed person and treat the comments of passers-by with aggression, then they will treat you the same. I'm open-minded, so I've never been told that tattoos on my face look ugly.
Almost all of my face tattoos have no meaning. I have a cobweb on my head with a butterfly and a spider, near my temples there is a razor and a knife - American old school. It feels like getting a tattoo on your head is like going to a dentist for a session, only it’s as if they’re treating your brain, not your teeth. And also this sound, when the needle taps on the bone... I could barely restrain myself - just so as not to interfere with the master doing the work. At one point he suggested splitting the session into two parts. But it hurt so much that I replied: “No way!” I can’t stand this again.”
In this matter, it is important to catch the line and understand when to stop. I won't get any more tattoos on my face. Every person has natural beauty, and if you fill your whole face with ink, it will disappear and you will become faceless.
Tattoos have long ceased to be associated with the prison past or subcultures, even among the older generation, and clogged “sleeves” are not a hindrance when applying for a job. Surprise and increased interest continue to be caused only by tattoos on the most visible areas of the body - for example, on the head or face.
The Village I talked to people who were not afraid to decorate their faces with tattoos and found out how they live and in what ways they fight the hostility of others.
Bertha, 19 years old
A security guard appeared in front of me at the entrance to GUM
and said: " Sorry,
but you can't come in,
We don't allow people like that»
I got my first tattoo at the age of 16. All my friends were stuffing something small, but I freaked out, went and made myself two Van Goghs - one for each hand. My last tattoo appeared a month and a half ago - these are lines on my face. And this Thursday I’m waiting for the next session - I’ll fill in another eye. I do everything with one master, he comes up with very cool ideas. Although I can draw everything myself, I’m an illustrator.
There is a separate story connected with the eyes and their image. I was about 14 years old, I had problems sleeping, and socialization was also difficult: after all, people around me don’t always understand creative people. I had strange dreams: some humanoids, ladies and gentlemen, dressed in dresses and three-piece suits, and instead of faces they had a white sheet, and they all carried small teapots in their hands. Suddenly a bunch of eyes start to open on their white empty faces different sizes and different colors.
These images haunted me for a long time, and I made my eye on my forehead last summer. The excess paint came out along with the lymph, and it looked as if the eye was crying black tears. At that time, my employer, for whom I no longer work, just called me and invited me for an interview.
I come with this eye dripping with black tears to the studio that makes children's cartoons, and they take me there without any problems. The studio is called "Airplane" - it makes "Fixies". Apparently, among artists and designers and in the field of film production, no one cares what is written on your face - unless you are an actor or producer, of course.
My left arm is completely covered in tattoos, and I will refill my neck - there is a tattoo that was filled in for me ex-husband. A certain number of tattoos are associated with films, games and music, which I am very attached to. And on my face I have a whole composition - like a visualization of the superego. The eye is an eye, it does not fall asleep and always sees everything, as if being above everything, and never looks into the eyes. I am a very strong Freudian, I even have a portrait of Freud and a pig in rabbit ears on my arm.
Grandma keeps repeating: “Get this bullshit off your forehead.” The first three days when I stuffed, she didn’t notice at all. I sat next to her, she watched her Petrosyan, I stole chips from her, and everything was fine - despite the fact that I had a fresh, bright tattoo on my forehead, still shiny with cream. But then my grandmother suddenly noticed, and since then she has been repeating this “Unstick” all the time.
I don't know about mom. About 15 minutes before they applied painkillers to my face, I wrote: “Now I’m getting a tattoo on my face.” Then I sent her a photo, my mother replied: “Mmm, I see.” Sometimes loved ones have outbursts like “Look at yourself, you’ve mutilated yourself.”
I only recently encountered discrimination. We at Vyshka organized a private screening of the film at the GUM cinema. My friend and I came to the session. Already at the entrance to GUM, a security guard appeared in front of me and said: “Sorry, but you can’t come in, we don’t allow people like that.” I clarify: “Which ones?” To which he replies that my appearance is unacceptable and is considered indecent. But then another guard came up and reluctantly let us through.
My favorite phenomenon in society is sociable alcoholics. One day during lunch break I went out to eat. I approach the cafe, finish smoking, and suddenly a carcass in sky blue jeans and a denim jacket of the same color - a real Marlboro cowboy - tumbles out onto the street. He is staggering around me near this cafe, he is shaking, he smells terribly of fumes.
He stops, looks at me for a long time and says: “Do you have an intrapersonal conflict?” It was unexpected - I don’t even remember what I told him. And as he left, he threatened me with his finger several times. Perhaps it was a failed psychiatrist.
Tattoos are like icons for me. Only on the icon you show the face of the one sitting at the top with a beard, but here you depict on yourself what is inside you. If we look at this from the point of view of psychoanalysis, then in all the tattoos that people continue to cover themselves with, one can see a very strong connection with the characteristic features of a person.
In general, I think that I can qualify for a diploma in psychoanalysis. I was even kicked out of art school for having “phallic” eggplants. I didn’t even know such a word then, I was 11 years old. We were given the task of drawing a still life with eggplants. I started, the teacher came up to me and said: “What did you do? This is obscene! You’re actually in a decent establishment.”
Then this woman called other curators, who also did round eyes. And I stand there and don’t understand anything. It was then that they explained to me that, you see, eggplants are phallic, that I had drawn something indecent and unacceptable. Since then I have been wondering if there are eggplants that are not phallic.
I think I have found my tattoo artist and he is perfect for me in all respects. I have a lot of tattoos, a bunch of small ones combined into one big one, so it’s hard to count. There are definitely 30 pieces.
They gave me anesthesia a couple of times, but it didn’t work in three places: on the forehead, on the left cheek and somewhere else. It seems to me that the more stuff a person has under his skin, the more painful it is. When they got a tattoo on my stomach, I almost died. After that, she moved around for two days, bent double. It hurt so much that I had to fill it in two sessions.
A lot has changed for me since getting face tattoos. The eye is an amulet that protects against idiots. With these tattoos, you immediately begin to understand how a person treats you, what he thinks about you, why he communicates with you, and what he generally needs from you. They often started taking pictures of me on the subway - it really infuriates me. A photo of my sleep-deprived face even appeared in the “Moscow Metro Fashion” public page. But I have much fewer complexes. A face tattoo is definitely a solution to socialization problems.
Kirill, 20 years old
For the last time when my girlfriend and I were counting (and this was six months ago), I found out 70-odd tattoos. There are eight of them on the face
When I first decided to get a tattoo, I was 15 years old. Then I was dating a girl - those great teenage feelings. When we parted, I decided to paint her full back portrait. I found out how much it costs and realized that it would be better to abstain. About a year has passed. It was my birthday, I had some free money, and I thought: “Damn, I still want a tattoo.”
As a result, I got a tattoo on my stomach - a rose with wings, the size of two palms. It came out to 2,500 rubles, but I negotiated down to 2,400 rubles. It took me five hours to get this tattoo. It is, of course, small, but due to the fact that it includes many colors, it took a long time to make. After the third hour, I had the feeling that a knife was being driven back and forth through my guts. I tell the master: “Let me give you 2,400 rubles, and I’ll buy cigarettes for 100, because this is hell.” After that I swore off ever getting tattoos. But then I changed my mind, of course.
The most painful thing was getting a tattoo on my Adam's apple. As soon as the contours began to fill brown, I felt bad - I went to the toilet and vomited from the pain. After the session I was supposed to meet my friend. I get out of the subway car, stand in the center of the hall and see my friend going down the steps. I walk towards her, but then the pain from the session catches up with me, I switch off and fall to the floor - I lay there for about five seconds. But the tattoo healed in literally two days.
The last time my girlfriend and I counted (which was six months ago), I had 70-something tattoos. There are eight of them on the face. There will be three more soon. I want to somehow play up the person on the left cheek in a more interesting way, otherwise he just looks like a big spot. I got my last tattoo on my knee about a month ago, and another lotus on my forehead. I want to somehow organize everything I’ve done, because I’ve been getting tattoos for four years now. And from them you can notice changes in my philosophy of life - like in the painting of some artist.
Recently it happened to me interesting story associated with one tattoo. My friends and I went to Yalta for a festival this summer. Afterwards we hitchhiked to Krasnodar. My friend has an acquaintance living in Rostov, and we stayed with him for a day. As a result, we went on a spree and I met a tattoo artist. The next day I wake up and go get a tattoo. I look at the master’s sketches and understand that everything is beautiful, but not catchy. And then he pulls out a dusty sketch from somewhere, and there it is from “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” instead of the main character bat wearing glasses, a mouthpiece, and a Panama hat. And I think: “And this is what the trip was like.”
Initially, I had small tattoos on my face, which I got when I was 17, but literally six months ago I covered them all up big works. Mom was very worried and is still worried. She, of course, wants me to bring them together, but she is already more calm. On the other hand, she sees that everything in my life is gradually working out. She knows what my goals are and what my values are. And my mother is proud of me. Of course, my sister sometimes teases me. She has one tattoo, which she got when she was 16 years old - a hieroglyph on her shoulder blade. But that's all.
In general, different situations related to tattoos happen every day. For example, I’m reading a book and I feel like someone is watching. I automatically turn my head to the right and make eye contact with someone. Sometimes I notice some kind of rejection from others, but this, I believe, is a projection of your inner state. What you put out is what you receive.
If you notice that some kind of hostility is coming towards you, it means that you yourself allowed yourself to emit it. I try to be neutral about this. But there were different cases. For example, once on my birthday, a non-Russian wanted to beat me right in the subway. He says: “I’m going to drop you now.” And literally after three minutes of conversation, he gave me a Nuts chocolate bar and left the carriage.
I recently encountered a problem. My girlfriend and I came to look at an apartment for rent. The owners there are Armenians, very kind, interesting and hospitable. But before us, literally ten minutes later, two girls came with the same question. We immediately decided to rent an apartment and were ready to pay a couple of months in advance. And the owners say: “No, the girls came first after all.”
Then we went to look at the next apartment - a two-room apartment on Mosfilmovskaya. The owner of the apartment spoke to us friendly over the phone. And when we met, he immediately became taciturn. He began to blurt out: “The owner is my wife, I’ll talk to her and give her an answer before the morning.” Naturally, he refused, but he and his wife argued that we were too young a couple for them and they would like to rent out the apartment to more serious people. Although I work, and the girl has no problems with money either. No one will openly say what the reason is. And whoever says it, I will shake hands.
At first, tattoos were just decoration for me. Two years later, I realized that they still contain some meaning. I started to work more selectively and look at quality. When you get tattoos for a long time, and then consciously look at yourself in the mirror, you see the flow of your life. Last year I started getting tattoos very rarely, but more serious ones.
There are a couple of foreign tattoo artists that I would like to work with someday. In general, if I really need it, fate will work out in such a way that I will get to them. As they say in ancient myths, you don’t choose the artifact, but the artifact chooses you. There's something similar with tattoos too.
Dasha, 27 years old
One day one grandmother, seeing me in a minibus, I decided to wash myself with holy water
I made the first tattoo on my left hand, and the last one on my nose, several dots. There is no hidden meaning. It’s just that one evening there was a party planned in Armagh, and I wanted to paint my face. Right at work, I took a black marker, drew dots on my nose and walked like that all day, and by the evening I realized that I wanted them forever. That evening I went and did it.
Almost all of my tattoos appear like this - I never think for a long time. Sometimes I draw them myself, but I can’t reach some places. If I see that the artist has drawn something cool, I immediately fill it in. There are people who come to the salon, and it begins: “Well, I don’t know what I want.” If you don’t know, then you don’t need it. This doesn't happen to me.
Now I work at the Trajectory store. I specifically choose a job where there will be no problems with tattoos, and in my resume I immediately mention that I have tattoos. When people see me, of course, they are surprised.
I don't know exactly how many tattoos I have. More than thirty. But I still have many places on my body without tattoos. For example, the back is clean. But that's it for now. I have six or seven tattoos on my face, including white ones. Perhaps they even glow in the dark under some kind of fluorescent lighting - I haven't tested.
I got my first tattoo at the age of 18. Then it was not as popular as it is now, the tattoo was small, and at the university everyone was fine with it. They said it was cool, asked if it hurt. Yes, it hurt, the wrist is a terrible place for a tattoo. In extreme cases, there is a painkiller that helps. Until recently, I didn’t use it and was always against it. I thought: “This is a tattoo, you have to endure it.”
But one day I decided to get a tattoo almost on my ribs, it lasted an hour, and it was the worst hour of my life. They never applied painkillers to the area, and I greatly regretted it. It hurt so much that I didn't even look at the tattoo when it was finished. It was also painful to do on the palms.
When I got my first tattoo, my mother gave me money for it, and I assured her that there would be only one tattoo and that it would not be really visible. But then the second, third, and so on followed - already on a global scale. Mom, of course, was very upset, I was even ashamed. And to this day she constantly reproaches me: “You said this was the last one!” And dad mocks me, teases me all the time, jokes about tattooed people. He says that only prisoners and bad aunts and uncles do this.
Maybe the fact is that dad is a man of the old school and is quite conservative. Still, my mother probably treats my tattoos more adequately. And my sister, for example, really likes them, although she always says that I’m sick. She has children, my nieces, they love to look at me.
Personally, I’m not part of any tattoo crowd, but I have another crowd - skaters, and among them there are a lot of tattooed guys. Not on the same scale as me, of course. Often they look and say: “Lord, how do you live with that on your face?”
Maybe I started paying a lot of attention to this, but I don’t like the way they treat tattoos in Russia. It's terrible when you're traveling in public transport and trying not to notice the stares. They openly stare at you and shake their heads - they say, you mutilated yourself, this is a nightmare. I try not to react to this in any way. But there are also people who like it: they raise it up thumbs and say: “Wow, cool tattoos!” (or something similar). Not a day goes by without questions about facial tattoos from the series “Did it hurt or not?” and how white tattoos are made.
One day, one grandmother, seeing me on a minibus, decided to wash herself with holy water. I hear the phrase “I mutilated myself” quite often. Again, I don’t care, I have done and will continue to do tattoos because I like it. I probably like the process itself even more than the result.
I get tattoos in my friends’ salons. But not for free: I appreciate their time, and the material is also quite expensive. Although, of course, I'll give it at a discount. Previously, it seems to me that tattoos were more expensive than now. My most expensive tattoo cost me 20 thousand. It is all colored and takes up half of the caviar. There is a sloth with a skateboard, my friend Dima Tabachny made it for me - he draws very cool.
Tattoos for me are like markers of certain periods of my life. Now I'm planning to make a black sleeve on right hand. I just want more black. This is my favorite color and it looks really cool.
My life changed a lot after I got a tattoo on my face. Probably no one looks at other people that way. I'm even glad that winter has come, when I can relax and put on gloves so that no one stares. Plus the hood also helps. They say to me: “Well, how do you live with so many tattoos - are they probably boring you?” No, they don’t bother me, I don’t even notice them when I look at myself. This is part of me.
Vitaly, 24 years old
To work, it seems They took me just for the tattoos, because To be honest, I don’t cut my hair very well
I got my very first tattoo at the age of 17 - on my arm, a heart with birds. Then, of course, he filled it with other tattoos. I did the last two last month - I finished off the neck and made another one on the face, in the shape of a knife. Besides that, I have a black hand and a lot of stuff. In general, I'm packed quite tightly - only my chest (it's in the contours) and back are clean. Hands and feet are already fully occupied.
I always get tattoos different people. Mostly these are some close acquaintances or friends - some work in salons, some beat at home, some in basements. I never went to any luxury salons - only to my own, trusted guys.
It is important for me that a person understands the matter, so that it is pleasant to communicate with him. The last time, for example, I got a tattoo from a female colleague: she recently started doing tattoos, but I was interested in how she beats.
I can't say exactly how many tattoos I have. For example, if the arm is all black up to the elbow, how much is it? One? I don't count them.
I got my first face tattoo three years ago. Now I have four of them. Mom still scolds me. And she doesn’t even know about the last tattoo. Mom has a very negative attitude towards tattoos, but she had to come to terms with it. Dad doesn’t care, he wants a tattoo himself, but mom forbids him. My brother also got a tattoo, but he doesn’t want one anymore.
Basically all my friends also have tattoos, plus I hang out with people who like punk rock. Probably, tattoos are a subcultural decision. Although, maybe this is only the case here, in Russia. In Europe there are policemen with their sleeves stuffed up, and a presidential candidate with tattoos on his face - he ran in the Czech Republic. Tattoos are common there.
I never thought about what tattoos meant to me. Most likely this is a decoration. At first everything was very thought out and each of my tattoos meant something, but then I began to simply choose the right place and image so that it would look normal. By the way, I don’t divide people into tattooed and non-tattooed. A tattoo is a decoration. Some wear chains, some insert gold teeth, some cut off their ears.
Recently I got a tattoo - and it slightly overlapped another - and it hurt quite noticeably. I don’t know - maybe it depends on the hand of the master. I've covered up old tattoos before and nothing happened. It was most painful to do on the chest and head. There are bones there - probably because of this. It's also unpleasant on the neck, but tolerable. They say it hurts a lot on the ribs. In front of me, my friend was hurting one girl’s stomach; she lay there and cried. It's probably because there are muscles there.
When they see me, my grandmothers cross themselves in all seriousness. About once a month, conversations like “Oh, grandson, what have you done to yourself?” happen. But they also often praise. There were a million dialogues on this subject - all of the same type: “Where are you hitting? Why are you hitting?
After I scored my hands and neck, I had no doubts about my face. Now, if I had decided to take care of my face first, and then everything else, then yes, I probably would have doubted it. When I was killing my brushes, I was offered a job in the authorities - as an assistant investigator. It was clear that it was possible to get such a position only without tattoos. I thought carefully and realized that I didn’t want to work for the police, which I didn’t really like.
Last summer I started working as a barber, and before that I was a bartender. It seems they only hired me for my tattoos, because, to be honest, I’m not very good at cutting hair. Haha, just kidding. There used to be circus performances, freak shows - I’m also something of a local freak at my work.
Inscriptions on the face: “No depression - more aggression”, “Hate”
I have been interested in tattoos since childhood, I was interested in the culture itself, rather than what exactly was depicted on the body - I was never attracted to dragons, flowers and other crap of the same type. Closer to 20 years old, I filled my wrists with the words “Grace” and “Calm” - these are important characteristics of me. It all started with them: I bought my first tattoo machine and, frankly speaking, began to “mess things up.”
I thought that facial tattoos could fully reflect everything that I have experienced or incidents that are dear to me. The cross near the left eye is faith in myself, in what I see with my own eyes, without unnecessary emotions. The phrase “No depression - more aggression” is a symbol of freedom and self-knowledge: I never get overwhelmed, I do everything according to the rule: with zeal, aggression. Barbed wire on the neck and on the cheek is a well-known sign of “a century of freedom not to be seen” - I am not a prisoner or a criminal, but I depicted this as a sign that every citizen of Russia, no matter how much he denies, is in the shackles of our country, we are tied to her and to power. “Hate” above the right eyebrow is a sign of my indignation towards a society that looks at me with contempt. I don't care about them! And my face makes it clear without further ado.
Vladimir Kirillov, 22 years old, tattoo artist
Inscriptions on the face: “Whirlpool”
I got my first tattoo on my face at the age of 18 - it was a dagger on my temple. The inscription “Whirlpool”, filled in later, is an abbreviation for “My One Consolation - You”. It does not refer to any specific person, but rather a collective image of someone who helps to escape from life’s difficulties. My tattoos are a message to society, because people have a certain stereotype, they say, if you have a tattoo, it means you were sitting or just “moved away.” But with my manners and behavior I try to show that I am quite adequate, and you shouldn’t judge a person by his cover.
What will I do with my tattoo when I'm old? Basically, nothing. Yes, over the years they will not look the same as before, but even people without tattoos will not be beautiful and fit forever! We're all going to look like crap - it's inevitable. So what difference does it make, with or without a tattoo?
Victor Burner, 18 years old, tattoo artist
Inscriptions on the face: “Nothing personal”
When I lived and worked in a tattoo studio in Novosibirsk, I had many nervous breakdowns: there were almost no clients, since I did not want to engage in commercial projects - I thought to “beat” my sketches, developing tattooing as an art. After another depression, I decided to join the army, I even started packing my things! At that moment, I drew a sketch of a rose, which I liked so much, I wanted to wear it on my face: I gave up on my debt to my homeland and returned to work as a tattoo artist. The fragments that were in this rose became my feature - now I draw them for all my clients.
The inscription “nothing personal” was made by my “sidekick” when I moved to St. Petersburg. Since in Russia it is very difficult with subcultures, people of the old school do not understand such designs on the body and try to “ask for a tattoo.” However, after the inscription on my forehead, I didn’t encounter this - on the contrary, grown-up, stern men who looked like bandits from the 1990s shook my hand, and the elderly said that I was brave.
Ilya Glazunov (O.G.Blanko), 20 years old, rap artist
Inscriptions on the face: “Here and now”
I got my first tattoo at the age of 14, at 15 I got my sleeve completely inked, and at 16 I got my face tattooed. Everything that is painted on me is a certain message to society, which everyone understands and accepts as best they can. I don’t like to talk about their meaning and I get angry when people ask me about it, but all the drawings are made for a reason. For example, the inscription “Here and now” above the eyebrow speaks of my position not to put things off until later and to solve problems “on the spot.” This quality greatly helps me in my career: I play music and just recently signed a contract with the Moscow label XXVII Legion.
Neither in Moscow nor in St. Petersburg did I encounter a negative reaction to my tattoos: even if they tried, they calmed down after the response. The only people who scolded me at first were my parents, for whom it was a shock. But, naturally, I’m not going to remove the tattoo - I want to be in style both now and in my old age.
Egor Kornilov, 21 years old, tattoo artist
Inscriptions on the face: “Attack”, “Love”, “Speed”
I have “Attack” printed on the side - this is the name of my project to develop the art of tattoos and create a cooperative of artists different directions. Also called my tattoo studio. On the other side, I have the inscription “Love” - I made it spontaneously, and then I realized that it is consonant with my last name - Kornilove. The “Speed” tattoo symbolizes me: energetic, I always need to do something, run somewhere. Plus, this is a piece in the puzzle of an antisocial tattoo project (I give similar inscriptions to many of my friends) - it should not be kitsch, although social patterns make it so.
The stripe on the chin is a continuation of the ray from the neck, and the branches on the temple are a gift from Minsk tattoo artist Ilya Medved, who made it with a simple needle, without the use of machines. This style is called “handpoke” and is distinguished by the absence of professional equipment, color splashes and a large-scale plot.
“We will all become decrepit, dry old men, only my saggy, painted skin will please the pathologists more.”
Maxim Obman, 20 years old, model Tann Model Management
Inscriptions on the face: “Sothebys”, “Christies”, “I"m not a real artist”
When I am asked how the Sothebys and Christies inscriptions are translated, I have two answers ready: 1) a smile for those who know that this is the name of the largest auction houses, that is, institutions that are responsible for 99% of the market contemporary art; 2) these are the surnames of my great-great-great-great-great-great-someone from the family, so as not to go into details and make the information as accessible as possible to the interlocutor.
“I"m not a real artist” (“I am not a real artist”) I filled in in addition to what is under my eyes. For me, there is one art - this is the market, speculation and capital. The auction is the game of the establishment.
With all this collection of inscriptions, it is difficult to get me to talk about culture, or to drag me to an exhibition. And no, I don’t regret stuffing them. All the most important things need to be hidden on the surface.
Anastasia Grishman, 21 years old, tattoo artist
Inscriptions on the face: “Hope”
I have never attached much importance to tattoos - I perceive it more as art than a provocative message to society. All the drawings on my body were made according to my own sketches - I just wanted to keep them close to myself and show them to others. It doesn’t matter where they are - on the face or in a place hidden from prying eyes - the main thing is that the tattoo cannot be changed, it will remain with you in old age, like some impulse committed in youth.
Long gone are the days when tattoos on the body had a special sacred meaning. Now many people simply decorate themselves with these body designs. True, there are also those types of tattoos that are not customary to get just like that: you need to be aware of the philosophy that for centuries has been closely connected with a tattoo in a certain place.
The meaning of a tattoo on the forehead
Psychologists talk a lot about the true meaning of a tattoo on the forehead. Moreover, for girls and men there is a difference in meaning. For example, a tattoo on the forehead in the eyebrow area for girls is closely related to the awareness of a person’s own “I”. In other words, everything that is in the eyebrow area and the area next to them in the subconscious means the thoughts and feelings of the girl who wears this design. Everything that is located in the upper part of the forehead, near the hair roots, means a close connection with society. And psychologists explain it as a person’s desire to attract attention. A tattoo located exactly in the center of the forehead speaks of the harmonious state of the person who wears it.
Eye on the forehead
As mentioned above, a tattoo made in the center of the forehead testifies to the harmony of the mental and external in a person. It is not for nothing that the so-called third eye, an organ of internal secretion, is located in the center of the forehead, according to experts. Esotericists consider this place to be one of the most powerful chakras in the human body. The third eye is responsible for a person’s ability to see the past, pay attention to signs of fate, and helps to overcome any distances only by the power of thought. Those who want to discover these abilities in themselves or strengthen them get an eye tattoo on their forehead.
Types of forehead tattoos
There are differences between written and graphic tattoos. They can also be humorous or philosophical in nature. One of the most common lines on the forehead is “Through thorns to the stars,” and people with a sense of humor often place the phrase “Knock on wood” or “Advertising space for rent.” Sometimes a two-word inscription is placed above the eyebrows, imitating their arch.
Those who choose a cross on their forehead as a body design put into this tattoo the meaning of the center of the world, which is located at the intersection of the four cardinal directions, as well as religious significance. In addition, a cross on the forehead can mean the intersection of the feminine (horizontal line) and masculine (vertical line) principles.
As a rule, each person attaches a special meaning to the ornaments on their forehead.
Girls, especially those who are interested in yoga, often order a bindi between the eyebrows from the master - a point that is usually worn in India.
A tattoo located in the temporal part of the forehead often becomes a decoration for the face. In this case she is not attracted special attention, but at the same time shades the face, making it narrower and aesthetically beautiful. Of course, such tattoos are especially popular among fair half population of the Earth. They prefer to place floral designs, exotic animals and geometric patterns in this area.
Men prefer to get tattoos with inscriptions, sometimes provocative: nationalistic or in support of their favorite football team.
Other types of forehead tattoos
If getting a real tattoo is too risky for you, try getting a regular flash tattoo. This is a sticker known to everyone since childhood, which is attached to the skin after contact with water. Esotericists say that an eye tattoo on the forehead, even in this form, can have a beneficial effect on such qualities of a person as good developed intuition and awareness. Girls most often choose shiny flash tattoos. And the easiest option is to simply draw a tattoo on your forehead using a gel pen, marker or regular eyeliner.
